


Episode 2: "Reunion"

by Buffyisamoderngirl2022



Series: Buffy + 20 [3]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-17 06:29:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28969860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Buffyisamoderngirl2022/pseuds/Buffyisamoderngirl2022
Summary: Episode 2 of my "Buffy + 20" script, or a television Buffy Season 8. I've read the Season 8 comics but they got too... epic. I missed the core gang dealing with real world problems in monster form. Instead of a new Buffy series being a reboot with new casting, I started thinking about what the story could look like with the original cast and what the fallout from Season 7 would be on these very human characters twenty years after closing the Sunnydale Hellmouth. My re-imagined Season 8 only uses the Buffy and Angel TV shows as canon. My goal is to draft scripts for a 13 episode season as if it were to air on Netflix or Hulu. The show would take place in late Fall 2022.
Relationships: Rupert Giles & Xander Harris & Willow Rosenberg & Buffy Summers, Spike/Buffy Summers
Series: Buffy + 20 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2088744
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	Episode 2: "Reunion"

“Reunion”

By: Buffyisamoderngirl2022

ACT 1:

SCENE 1:

BUFFY’S HOUSE - INT. NIGHT

GILES enters the living room, focused on cleaning his glasses.

Giles: Buffy, what's all the commotion?

GILES barely finishes the last word and gets his glasses back on his face before Willow and Xander run at him.

WILLOW/XANDER: Giles!

WILLOW and XANDER envelop GILES in a huge hug. The camera is looking at Giles with Xander and Willow's backs facing the camera. Giles’s face registers the shock of seeing Willow and Xander and then softens into a warm smile as the hug continues. 

JJ: (Looking back and forth between Xander and Willow) Mom, are these the same people from that photo of you as a kid when you had that funny hair?

BUFFY: Funny hair? It was very cool at the time (JJ rolls her eyes) and yes, these are the same people. 

The group hug breaks apart to watch Buffy and JJ's exchange.

JJ: Wow, you guys got old. 

WILLOW/XANDER: Hey!

SPIKE smirks in the corner armchair. 

BUFFY: (to JJ) Have you finished your homework?

JJ: Homework? But Mom, there's a quarantine! 

BUFFY: Yes, and? We've done enough of these now to know that you will just have school online for a few days instead, which definitely does not mean you get to skip homework. Go upstairs and work on your homework until dinner. 

JJ: (Excited) Oh! Dinner! (With feigned revulsion) Oooh, dinner... will there be cooking or can there be pizza?!

XANDER: (from the other room) Ooh, pizza!

BUFFY: Alright, looks like pizza it is; now upstairs with you. I'll call you when dinner is ready. 

JJ: (In a huff) Okay fine.

JJ turns and stomps back up the stairs.

BUFFY turns to face the group. They are loosely in a circle looking at her.

GILES: What's this about the quarantine?

Everyone starts pulling out their phones.

Willow: (Reading from her phone) It looks like there is a week-long quarantine for the tri-city area. There have been a few new cases of that respiratory virus diagnosed at the hospital and they want to lock down the area until they can do contact tracing and isolate any additional cases. 

XANDER: A week?

WILLOW: Yep. Looks like. 

BUFFY sighs.

BUFFY: I guess I’ll have to find spots for you all to sleep.

JJ (from offscreen, clearly eavesdropping, she shouts down the stairs) I can share my room!

BUFFY: (Shouts back up) Homework first!

BUFFY pauses until she hears the sound of JJ’s bedroom door closing.

BUFFY: (Thinking out loud) Well, we’ve all bunked in closer quarters before I guess. We’ll figure something out. 

The group has gone quiet now that the excitement of the surprise reunion has passed and the realization of a forced quarantine sets in. Spike and Xander are sitting in armchairs. Willow is perched uncomfortably on the edge of the couch and Buffy and Giles are standing.

GILES: (Attempting to break the awkward silence) It is such a surprise to see you all. Buffy mentioned that she was going to see Xander, (to Willow) but I had no idea you would be there as well. It is such a delightful surprise to see you Willow. (Willow smiles and Spike raises his eyebrows at Giles) And, yes, Spike, you too of course. (Spike rolls his eyes).

BUFFY: (Turns her focus to Xander) Yeah, Xander, my understanding was that it was going to be just the two of us meeting up.

WILLOW: (cutting in) Hey! Yeah! You said the same thing to me! That you wanted to meet up just the two of us so we could talk. And then all of a sudden, poof! Buffy's there, and (derisively) for some reason, Spike too!

SPIKE: Hey now, I only came because Xander asked me to be there for emotional support.

BUFFY: (Sarcastically) Emotional support? Are emotional support vampires a thing now?

SPIKE: Yeah, I've sorta been Xander's, well, sponsor I guess you could say. 

WILLOW and BUFFY look at XANDER in disbelief. Xander shrugs.

XANDER: I know. I'm sorry. I may not have told the whole truth when I asked each of you to meet me for coffee to talk but I was worried that if you knew the other might be there then neither of you would show up. 

BUFFY: Let me get this straight. You invited me and Willow separately to talk to us, under the pretense of wanting to make amends, but in doing so you chose to _lie_ to us?

XANDER: Uh, yeah. I see how that's bad. 

WILLOW: You think!

XANDER: I'm sorry. I dunno, I just somehow thought that if we were all in the same room together, everything would just be, (gives a half shrug) well, okay again. 

WILLOW: Xander, after what you've... all that's happened it doesn't work like that. 

BUFFY is watching the conversation, arms crossed. She is about to respond but thinks better of it.

Buffy: I think I should go order the pizza. 

BUFFY starts to leave the room and Spike follows her. She is facing away from him and he is following into the hallway her as they walk from the living room toward the kitchen.

BUFFY: Twenty years Spike! No word from you for twenty years! Last time I saw you, you were burning up and/or being crushed by giant boulders! Andrew – ANDREW - told me you were alive, but you couldn't be bothered to tell me! Twenty years and then all of a sudden you appear and are all (mocking his accent/manner) "Hello Buffy --"

BUFFY has started to turn to face SPIKE in the middle of the hallway as she is saying "Hello Buffy" and she stops dead halfway through her turn to face Spike and instead stares at her hallway mirror.

SPIKE: Hello, Buffy? (he follows her gaze and sees both of their reflections in the mirror) Oh. Right. Uh. Yeah. I'm mortal now. (Buffy shifts her gaze from 'mirror Spike' to actual Spike, disbelieving) I have been for a while now actually. Heh.

BUFFY’S brain doesn't know how to process this information. She reaches out and touches a palm to his chest to feel his heart beat. Now Spike freezes. After a few heartbeats he gently takes her hand and pulls it away from his chest. Buffy is registering that he is human-warm and looking at their hands. Their touch lingers and it clear from their expressions that they both feel a spark in the touch.

WILLOW flies in from around the corner.

WILLOW: (excitedly) Buffy! (Buffy and Spike immediately pull their hands away) Can we order extra cheese?! 

ACT 2:

SCENE 1:

BUFFY’S HOUSE – INT. NIGHT

BUFFY and SPIKE re-enter the living room after ordering the pizza off-screen.

BUFFY takes a few steps toward Giles, creating distance between her and Spike.

BUFFY: (Pointing at Spike, tattling) Spike is mortal. 

GILES: What?

WILLOW: I thought he looked older! (Catches herself) Or, uh, you know, maybe tired? I-I mean, (desperately trying to backpedal) what do you mean Spike is mortal?

SPIKE: I'm standing right here; you can talk to me directly you know. 

WILLOW: (Turning to Xander) Did you know?

XANDER: (Uncomfortable) Yeah, we've kind of been roommates for a while.

GILES: Spike, what - how?

SPIKE: I asked.

GILES: (Starts cleaning his glasses) Asked whom exactly? That kind of power isn't easy to come by.

SPIKE: Well, you remember that big fight against all the baddies we had in LA a few years back? (Giles nods) It was kind of my reward-like for saving this dimension. 

BUFFY: (incredulous) Your reward?

SPIKE: Yeah.

BUFFY: (pouting and muttering audibly to herself) I fight evil all the time and I've never been offered any reward.

SPIKE: (gently) You're living it, Love. 

BUFFY: What is that supposed to mean --

WILLOW cuts her off.

WILLOW: Xander, you knew that Spike was mortal, that you've been living together, and you didn't say anything?

XANDER: Well Spike and I didn't exactly reconnect under the best of circumstances, and that is what today was supposed to be about, the talking! For the apologizing and the telling of life events! So it hasn't exactly gone as I had planned, but hey, at least we are all here talking in the same room for the first time in about a decade. 

BUFFY: Yeah, and stuck together in a quarantine. 

WILLOW: (hurt) "Stuck" together?

BUFFY: Will, you know what I mean - (Buffy pauses when she sees Willow give a half smile) What?

WILLOW: Y-you called me "Will". It's been so long I guess I kind of missed it, and it is nice to hear. (Willow gives a hesitant smile)

XANDER: See! See! Already with the bonding and reconnecting!

WILLOW: (Turns to face Xander, smile gone) Xander no. You lied to us. How can you expect us to trust you in any way when you have already started this whole thing with a lie?

XANDER: (Awkward) Hey... heh, weren't we talking about Spike?

BUFFY: Yes, but since it seems like you and Spike are all chummy now, let's "one stone" this. (Buffy settles into her "detective" voice) Xander. You said you and Spike didn't reconnect under the best of circumstances. What did you mean?

XANDER: I, uh, wasn't exactly feeling well when I ran into Spike --

(Buffy cuts him off, turns to Spike)

BUFFY: Spike. Since Xander won't answer the question, I'll ask you. How did you reconnect?

SPIKE: I found him passed out in a puddle of his own sick holding two full gas cans in the middle of a construction site at night. 

BEAT as Giles, Willow, and Buffy all horrified, turn to stare at Xander. 

XANDER is embarrassed and trying to disappear into the armchair he is sitting in.

XANDER: (Half-jokingly) I'd had a bad day at work. 

BUFFY: (unconvinced) A bad day? (Xander gives a slight shrug) Was this before or after your court-manded rehab?

XANDER: (in a small voice) After. 

SPIKE: (seeing Xander starting to crumble) But he has been sober ever since then, and that was what, eight years ago now?

XANDER: (avoiding eye-contact with the group) Nine years, four months, and three days. 

WILLOW: (gentle and kind of hurt) Why did you wait so long to reach out?

XANDER: I didn't feel ready. I wanted to be sure I was okay. That I was steady and didn't feel so (beat) ashamed, I guess. I wanted to be able to prove to myself that I was some semblance of the guy you all used to know and like. To find out if I even liked that guy, and that he could be worth being friends with again. 

WILLOW: Oh Xander -

BUFFY cuts Willow off.

BUFFY: (arms crossed) And? What have you done to prove that? I mean, Xander, god, you hit your girlfriend!

XANDER is still a bit embarrassed, but more self-assured. This was the part of the conversation with Willow and Buffy that he came prepared for. 

XANDER: I know it isn't an excuse, but I've only had the one relapse since leaving rehab, and that was when Spike found me. I've been sober ever since. And that that relapse was triggered by the 10-year anniversary of Anya's death (All show a flicker of grief at Anya's name). Over the last few years I've started working in construction again and have made my way back to having my own crew, and in fact am in discussions to become a partner in the company I work for. I've also helped with fundraising for shelters in the area and organized a few ManKind groups. Oh yeah, and therapy. Lots and lots of therapy.

SPIKE shows a hint of pride as Xander speaks. 

XANDER: I know I can never undo my actions or take back the years I wasted being drunk or make you not feel the hurt I have caused all of you, but I am doing better and I want to try and rebuild what I demolished. (jokingly) It's kinda my trade. 

BUFFY: Which you started to do by lying to us. 

XANDER: (ashamed again) Yes. 

THE group is arranged in a loose circle with Giles to Buffy's left, then Willow, then Spike, and Xander is to Buffy's right. Buffy points at each in turn, starting with Giles.

BUFFY: (Thinks for a few seconds and then lets out a long sigh) Murderer. Murderer. Attempted rapist. Drunken abuser, (pointing to herself) attempted murderer. Any horses we sit on are definitely of the miniature variety.

SPIKE: And I was the only one without a soul --

BUFFY: (gives him a death glare) Spike.

SPIKE: (abashed) Sorry. (immediately looks anywhere other than at Buffy.)

A scream is heard from outside.

The group snaps to attention. 

WILLOW: What was that?

XANDER: Is the pizza here?

BUFFY is already on her way out the front door. She grabs her nightstick which is hanging on a hook next to her keys, etc.

SCENE 2

BUFFY’S HOUSE - EXT. NIGHT

BUFFY is in cop mode as she goes out to investigate the scream. Old habit brings the rest along. 

BUFFY, GILES, XANDER, SPIKE, and WILLOW hurry outside and see a woman sprawled on the front lawn near the doorway of the house next door and a man sprinting away from the house. 

BUFFY runs toward the man and grabs him by the arm to spin him around. He's a vampire. They start to fight.

FIGHT SCENE!

JJ: (calling from the front doorway of Buffy's house) Mom?

BUFFY, distracted by JJ’s call, gets knocked down by the Vamp. The Vamp starts to run away.

BUFFY: (shouts to Giles while getting to her feet) 911 and JJ! 

GILES nods and rushes back to Buffy's house. 

WILLOW is seen in the background kneeling down check for signs of injury and for a pulse. XANDER crouches next to her. They both quickly ascertain that the vampire drained the woman. 

BUFFY sprints off after the vampire, followed quickly by Spike, Willow and Xander. 

THE GROUP chases the vampire a few blocks. Buffy is hot on his tail, Spike is managing to stay within a couple hundred feet behind Buffy, and Willow and Xander barely keep Spike in sight. 

THE FOUR chase the vampire into a graveyard. Buffy first, then Spike, then, panting, Willow and Xander. 

BUFFY is looking around for the vampire. She lost him upon entering the graveyard. 

WILLOW: (to Spike, breathless) Aren’t you mortal now? How (gasping for air) are you so fast?

SPIKE: I've stayed in shape, unlike you two; (teasing) and my body is still younger than yours. 

XANDER: (still panting, waves away their conversation) Buffy, did you see where he went?

BUFFY: I wouldn't necessarily need to see him if you all would stop being so loud for a second.

XANDER and WILLOW hold their breath and Spike casually crosses his arms, leans against a monument. 

BUFFY closes her eyes and listens. She hears the rustle of the vampire around the other side of nearby mausoleum. She gestures to Xander and Willow to go around one side and that her and Spike will go the other way to block him. They all nod understanding and start to move. They converge on the vampire at the same time from opposite sides of the mausoleum. The vampire panics and comes at Buffy but Spike kicks him in the chest sending him backward, arms splayed. Willow and Xander each grab one of the vamp's arms and slam and pin his back to the mausoleum. Buffy flicks out her baton, which has a wooden point on the end of it, and stakes him. He dusts. It’s like riding a bike. They are all a little out of breath and stand looking at each other. Buffy smiles first and then the others follow. An object fell onto the ground as the vamp dusted. 

The camera pans down and closes in on the object in the middle of vamp dust.

ACT 3

SCENE 1

CEMETERY – EXT. NIGHT

XANDER notices the object on the ground and picks it up. 

WILLOW: What is it? 

XANDER: (turning over in his hands) it looks like a sobriety chip or an arcade token. 

WILLOW: Weird. We should show it to Giles.

XANDER hands the object to Buffy. The group starts to walk back toward Buffy's house. 

WILLOW: Am I a terrible person if I say that I think I've missed doing that?

XANDER: Staking that vamp was unexpectedly cathartic. 

BUFFY: Nah, I start to feel a bit twitchy if I go a couple of months without a good staking (all react to her accidental double entendre).

XANDER: (clears throat) Right. Speaking of, what is that nifty little device you've got there? (gestures to her nightstick)

BUFFY: Oh, this! (Hands the baton over to Xander to inspect more closely) It is just our standard issue extending baton and I hot glued a wooden pointy bit to the end!

WILLOW: Cool!

XANDER: Buffy and a hot glue gun, now there is a fearsome combination.

WILLOW and XANDER walk a few steps ahead looking at and playing with the baton. 

SPIKE hangs back to walk next to Buffy. She is fidgeting with the token they found.

SPIKE: Does Mr. Summers know about your penchant for staking strangers?

BUFFY: Mr. Summers? Why would I talk to my dad about that?

SPIKE nods towards Buffy's wedding band on her hand.

BUFFY: Oh, that. Right. Well, when Chris and I divorced a few years back I never bothered to take it off. It generally keeps strange men from bothering me. And Chris and I are still good friends and he understands; so, it doesn't weird him out too much that I still wear it. What about you?

SPIKE: I'm okay with it, it doesn't weird me out either. (Buffy shoots him a look. Spike gives her a smirk and then is serious. He takes a breath) I was seeing a woman for a few years, I thought she might have been it, but we split up a few months back, so I guess she wasn't.

BUFFY: I'm sorry. 

SPIKE: (matter-of-fact and a bit melancholy) Yeah, sometimes it happens that relationships that seem like they should work, just don't. 

BUFFY: (Sighs) I'm more familiar with that reality than I'd like to be. 

THE GROUP is now walking up Buffy's front walk to her house and begin to enter the house.

SCENE 2

BUFFY’S HOUSE – INT. NIGHT

BUFFY: (Hands the object to Giles) Check it out! I got another Cracker-Jack toy surprise.

GILES inspects the object.

JJ: (now downstairs with Giles) What's a Cracker Jack toy surprise? And can I have it?!

The rest of the group has now filed back into the living room, joining JJ and Giles. 

GILES: (looking closely at the object) Perhaps, but first I must consult my books. 

THE SCOOBY GANG look at Giles with various levels of amusement and enthusiasm. 

GILES: (chuckling at his own joke) I know, I know, but I guess I'm just so delighted to see you all that I couldn't help myself. 

BUFFY'S doorbell rings.

JJ: Pizza!

BUFFY answers the door and the flashing lights of the ambulance next door are visible. 

PIZZA GUY: (He hands her the pizza) What's going on next door?

BUFFY: Uh, I'm not sure. (starts closing the door) Thanks for the pizza and keep the change!

PIZZA GUY: (as the door is being closed on him and then heard through the closed door) You paid with a credit card. 

BUFFY latches the door and walks the pizza back into the kitchen. The rest follow her. 

BUFFY: (To JJ) Glasses and napkins please. 

THE GROUP starts rummaging around Buffy's kitchen gathering items to set the table for dinner.

WILLOW: I can grab plates if you point me in the right - (Buffy points to a cabinet) ah!

XANDER: Silverware? (Buffy points)

SPIKE is helping JJ carry glasses into the dining room. 

THEY all work to set the dining room table. Once everything is out and set, they all sit down and start grabbing slices. 

THE GROUP enjoys a brief comfortable silence as everyone starts to eat. JJ is giving them each a thoughtful and evaluating look as she chews on an extra cheesy slice of pizza. She swallows her bite. JJ wipes her face and hands with a napkin, sets the napkin back down, folds her hands in front of her with a serious look on her face. She has made up her mind about something.

JJ: Alright. (the group turns their gaze towards her) We are going to go around the table and I want each of you to tell me the most embarrassing story you know about my mom. (looking around the table) Let's see... who should we start with...

BUFFY reacts with surprise, alarm, and then bemusement while the rest all smile back at her and each other. 

The camera still focused on the rest of the group, so it is unclear who JJ is looking at. 

JJ: [Offscreen] Let's start with you. 

The scene ends with the camera close on Buffy's grinning face.


End file.
